Real Talk with QBV #9 with Former DIII Turned NFL Quarterback Joe Callahan

On Tuesday, August 11th, QBV met up with Division Three legend, Wesley Quarterback Joe Callahan. It's tough making the NFL, but against all odds Callahan has done it a few times, Callahan holds quite a few records and even has won the Gagliardi trophy Callahan has truly had a remarkable career that is still not over.

Joe Callahan told us about his unique journey and about all the bumps in the road he hit on his way to making the NFL. Whether it was with the Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens and the Detroit Lions, he has a lot of valuable experience we can all learn from.

Joe Callahan is still working in hopes to sign with another NFL team, we here at QB Velocity love seeing a member of D3 Nation making it big! Let's take a look at what Joe Callahan taught us!

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What advice do you have for athletes during these crazy times?

“It’s definitely a strange time, I usually work out at the local Middle School’s Football team’s gym and they even locked me out... The gyms are starting to open up in my area, just train on your own, there are tons of things you can do, with footwork, pushups and squats.

If you don’t have weights at home you can always use bodyweight and keep up with your cardio. Just stay as prepared as possible for any opportunity to come.”

Any particular advice for what QBs should be doing right now?

“Quarterback is a tough position, all your other skill positions, like wide receiver can just, be running routes and stuff. I guess as a Quarterback if you don’t have anybody you trust to throw to, just work on staying in shape and fine tune the little things.

Footwork is a huge part of playing Quarterback, that is something most people don’t realize going into it, but just do what you can at this time and get as much accomplished with what you know you’re going to use as a Quarterback.”

What are your thoughts on the XFL coming back again?

“I was in the XFL for a little bit, I joined the league late, with probably about nine days left in training camp. They put me on Team 9, is what they called it, it was kind of like a practice squad group, I was there for about five weeks, and then the league was cancelled because of Covid.

It was a fun league I liked a lot of stuff they were doing, especially getting the fans and the players involved, some of the stuff is hard to handle as a player, like once a kicker missed the game winning kick and they had a microphone in his face on the sideline. They did a lot of exciting things and I'm excited that there’s potential for it coming back next year.”

What made you start playing Quarterback?

“You know it kind of started just naturally. My Dad pushed me in that direction as a kid, he had me in the backyard throwing. I played the three main sports Football, Basketball and Baseball growing up and then as I progressed, I narrowed it down to Football and Basketball in High School.

I got recruited a little bit more for Football going into College, I guess it was my Dad’s influence. I started playing in third or fourth grade, that’s when our peewee Pop Warner started. I played Quarterback my whole life and a little bit of defense to, but that fizzled out

over the years.”

What players did you look up to growing up?

“I was a huge Brett Favre fan growing up, that’s is kind of who I styled my game around, I also liked Steve McNair to, but I was a huge Brett Favre fan so when the Packers signed me that was a dream come true being able to go up there and experience everything.”

So have you heard any good Brett Favre stories from either Aaron Rodgers or the Packers organization?

“There were some good stories, he had a couple good pranks in the locker room. He tricked Aaron into signing his own helmet right before practice and Aaron had to go through practice with an autograph of himself on his own helmet, that was a little bit of his rookie hazing.

Everything I heard was that he was a really down to earth guy, great teammate. It didn’t matter if you were a ten-year veteran, an undrafted rookie or a guy on the equipment staff, he was everybody's best friend in that locker room.”

What was the recruiting process like for you, and what kind of offers were you getting?

“It was a little stressful, I had a really good Junior year throwing the ball, and we had a really strong team coming back my senior year. I was lucky to throw